Sometimes I believe in fate

Fate? Purpose? Or just timing?

So, I was "scheduled" to go into Spokane tomorrow with my landlord to take care of a cherry tree that blew down in a windstorm we had yesterday. I got the chainsaw ready to go and decided to just go today. Got directions and meandered my way around Spokane until I found the house.

I started cutting up this tree (of course, throwing the chain on the SECOND cut...how embarrassing.) Some of the tenants of this four-plex came home. So I got the chain back on and started bucking up this tree...looking up, I noticed the guy trying to tear one gal off another gal in the garage! These ladies were seriously fighting! They were so into it, at some point a bunch of wine glasses had broken and they were rolling around in that!

I shut off the saw and yelled "HEY!" at them. The dude told me to come help him, so I did. Imagine me in chaps, work shirt, leather gloves, hardhat, and sunglasses breaking apart a cat fight. Well, we got them separated and I found out that it was a mom and a daughter. The scolding and holding women apart went on for another 15 minutes and finally I convinced the daughter to take off after checking her and her Mom for serious cuts from the glass. (First aid class is a brilliant way to make you think of stuff like that.)

After all THAT, I cut up the tree, loaded it in the truck and took off. Getting home I talked to my landlord and she said she got a call from the mother who said she was getting a restraining order on her DAUGHTER! Strange strange place, Spokane is.

However, I must think what may have happened if I wasn't there today and right then. Was it a planned encounter? Did I subdue a volatile situation? What would have happened if I wasn't there? Nothing? More?

All very interesting things.

Tunnels and fly fishing are great

Yes, tunnels!

I got a tip that the St. Joe was empty, and having never been there, I decided to make a camping trip to do a little fishing.

I headed over Friday morning and drove through some unexpected tunnels! I was kinda tickled by this, and soon to find out, I would go through about seven more! Turn on your lights is right. Moon Pass out of Wallace is fun...if not confusing to get to. Seriously, I drove through town a bit before I found the valley I needed to head towards.

I made it to Avery and then drove downriver to St. Maries...just to see the river. One of my troubles is that I need to know the ENTIRE area before settling down for the night.

So I came back, passed Avery and continued up to Red Ives. Gorgeous. Lushious woods, jade creek, ferns, cedars, you name it. It was a mini-Lochsa! I found a camp or two and then finally chose one and settled in. I found a place where the campers before me had buried some cornhusks...dug up by a bear. Great, I hoped it didn't come back and I'm sure glad I put up camp prior to finding that little tidbit out. I found the pistol comforting, but was disconcerted at the time. I did NOT want those kinds of visitors. Sure enough, however, a pair of visitors arrived!

They pulled their rig down...ALMOST into camp..then backed up. I thought they were going to camp in the spot across from mine. I was pissed...so much river, so many spots...and they need to camp HERE!? Well, I heard a bump and the engine shut down. Then a door closed. Then another door closed. Son of a gun, I thought. (Actually, it was much worse of a thought.)

Turns out the fella had backed into a tree and I heard the gal say, "Oh, it's not that bad." They got into the rig and left. You could only turn a semi around in that spot, but I was happy anyways.

I had an uneventful night.

Woke up bright and squirrley and changed the bottle on my stove. Well, I got the hole punched too early and sprayed fuel all over me. Chucking said bottle, I watched it fizzle and roll around in the dirt. To be on the safe side, I took off that shirt and threw matches in the areas it had sprayed fuel...no flare up so good to go. But now I had nothing to heat water with! I made a morning fire and made some nasty, bitter coffee. Not wanting to do anymore than that...since I wanted to go fishing...I called it good.

I went downriver (since I was near the end of the road) and fished down about 20 miles. The first hole I was in early produced a couple 12 inch cutthroat...and throughout the day I got more and more six inch+ fish. And these were NOT your typical cutthroat. They had the most beautiful red bellies and intricate backs that you could imagine! Fun fish. I realized all of a sudden how much I missed fly fishing. It is so much more fun to catch fish on a fly rod than a "normal" rod. It takes everything you have. Thinking of the line, the fly...the type...the size...the presentation...the water...the drift...the sun...

It takes everything else away from you, and after a while, you think, "huh, I wonder what time it is?"

That is the beauty of fishing. You can lose yourself entirely and not even notice. My mother put it best, "It's like you can throw all your troubles into the river."

It ended up being 1200 and I wanted to check out the road to St. Regis...and not knowing how long it might take, I thought it'd be a good idea to leave. Shoot, I would've ended up in St. Mary's again if I hadn't stopped fishing when I did. And there was no way I was going through single lane tunnels on a busy Saturday!

It was a great trip. I did more thinking than I think I wanted to. I caught fish. I was mad and happy. Scared of bears and welcomed morning.

One thing, do not pass firewood (logs, sticks, etc) on your way. Never imagine they might be in the area you end up camping....because they aren't. Also, never leave your fishing stuff on the shore while you walk down or upstream. You will need it and be pissed you have to climb back DOWN the cliff to get to it. (Yes, I did a little rock climbing with a rod in hand....just to get to a place where there was fish.)

This story has more to it, but I am tired and am going to go to bed.

Quite a compliment

I was just told, "You're so quiet, you're like a ghost."

That's a good thing isn't it?

Made me smile

17th Annual Car d'Lane

No photos of this because it was spur of the moment, but it was fun.

Got to Butch's house last night to drop off a fish head for Ron (you can get $20 for them) and no one was there. I called Butch's cell and they were headed out in a 'Cuda to go downtown and show off the car.

The plan came together quickly after that. I ran down and got Butch. We washed his old Caddy convertable in about 10 minutes flat and went, missed registration, and so just cut in and drove around with all the other old cars. It was pretty fun. Hundreds of people lined the street, hundreds of cars created a stop and go gridlock, and there was much to see for all!

Well, then we overheated a little bit and jumped out of line...drove down Lakeview to cool it off. Then we were going to meet Zimmer and his pals down there, park, and watch the cars go by. They wouldn't let us back in (since we were using a pink Jiffy Lube receipt the first time...registration cards were pink.) So again we drove around, cut in, and then tried to park near these guys. The lights stopped working....they worked in Park, but not in Drive...and that's just really hard on the transmission to drive around in Park. ;) So we had to jet out of there since it was way too dark to drive safely without lights. (Go figure) We took many back roads slowly back to Butch's house. Many nice people in CDA...everyone flashing their lights...and there's Butch and I just smiling and waving!

It was definitely fun because it was not something I would ever see myself doing. Put yourself in a car and have people sitting on the curb about 5 feet from you staring. Me in a spotlight? No thanks.

So we ended up drinking some beer and talking about hunting season. Then I took his 60 cc toy trail bike for a ride around the yard. I felt like a dork, but it was still fun...tearing around the lawn at midnight on a miniature motorcycle.

These are the days (and nights) of my life I guess...ha!

Fishing on Pend Oreille

Yea, it's a big lake up near Sandpoint.

On Friday after work I headed to Butch's house because people were around the house that I didn't care to be around (landlord was renting out the "B&B.")

We ended up getting my new boat's motor working in a garbage can full of water and ready to go. I figured I'd go fishing on Saturday. Well, the neighbor kid came over after dinner and we helped him play with a new bike he got...changing spark plugs and trying to get it going.

I got home at around 1200. No good. But about 1700 on Saturday I got a call from Butch. We're going up to Pend Oreille, Ron decided instead of leaving at 0200 on Sunday, we could go tonight. I thought that was a great idea. So then I couldn't find my license anywhere. Had to go to Black Sheep 5 minutes before they closed to get replacements...(still can't find that stuff anywhere...it must have dropped in the woods.) So, we collected Ron and got to Bayview, prepared his big boat, and hung out for a bit. Then went to town about 2100 for dinner of shrimp and fries...um, and beer. Well, we ended up back at the boat at 0200 on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, Ron left the keys for the boat shed on the boat...so I was convinced to climb around the edge...over 15 feet of cold water...half-tuned...with only a toe and a finger hold to get me there. Oddly enough, I managed. We needed to get a certain part of the lake by 0330 so Butch took a nap and Ron and I stayed up, "We're going to leave in about 45 minutes...who cares?"

We DID take off early and got there and rigged up. Troll troll troll. Troll troll troll. Finally wandered into a lake trout and woke Butch up with it.

The rest of the day was spent trying to not get too hot and still fish. We had to stop and buy some sandwiches, but that was all we stopped for. And I think the heat got up to...94 I think it was?

Anywho, we had a great time even with one fish. I got to learn about driving this big boat, rigging for trolling, and brought home a fish and some nice pictures to boot.

Luckily Ron's wife and granddaughter came up to meet us, so he went back with them and Butch and I took off with Butch driving. I say luckily, because I was asleep in no time riding along in the truck, and we were in CDA when I woke up. I managed to sleep about 8 hours last night and was just wore out today. But tonight shall be good, I promise!

Here we go:

Got to the boat at 0200

Leaving

Getting there

Still getting there

We turned around for this shot

Where we were headed

Whiskey Point

Just interesting

From the bridge

Captain Ron on it

Waking Butch up in the bow

Butch made it aft shortly!

Lack of prior planning

I have a good lesson for all of you today. Always think through what you are about to do, give it some time, think about the consequences. Also, remember that towels can and WILL break lightbulbs.

Huh?

A fly has been buzzing around my house for a bit now. It has eluded me like only flies can. It followed me into the bathroom and I was at the end of my rope. So, I made a whip out of a small towel and struck for it in the air, once, twice, then CRACK! went one of the vanity lights. Hmph.

So now envision this. You are standing in a bathroom, with two exposed wires that could cause quite a shock, the floor is littered with broken shards of glass, and you have no shoes on! I tiptoed out of the minefield and collected a broom.

I even found glass in the bathtub.

Luckily I escaped with no injuries and used a headlamp to replace the light and clean the floor.

The fly is nowhere to be found....so rolled up towels can kill flies....or at least shrapnel from broken lightbulbs can do the job...not sure which, but it is a deadly combination for all.